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The Dragon Reborn's armies
The Dragon Reborn commands vast armies formed from the nations of the Westlands and of the Aiel. The entire military capability of the Aiel and thousands of recruits from lands under his control have made a mighty force ready to face the Shadow. He also commands the Sea Folk, Asha'man, and the armies of Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara. Aiel The Aiel are led by their clan chiefs, who are for the most part hardened warriors who are good generals. Aiel warriors themselves are without equal and their Wise Ones will no doubt take part in the fight against the Shadow, providing the Aiel armies with at least a couple of thousand channelers. The seven clans Rand had with him before Cairhien, combined with the four Clans that joined him later, initially added up to around four hundred and eighty thousand spears, but casualties in Cairhien and in Illian and the bleakness have reduced their numbers. It is estimated that four hundred and twenty thousand Aiel are still under Rand's command. Westland nations Tear Traditionally Tear's army is made up of the Defenders of the Stone and the nobles' armsmen. Tear's lords use cavalry most often and despise foot. The Defenders of the Stone are the standard military body of Tear. They are all cavalrymen wearing a black and gold uniform, and their commander is Captain of the Stone Rodrivar Tihera, a minor noble. Lately, King Darlin and all of Tear's remaining High Lords and High Ladies, except High Lady Fionnda, were gathered in Tear with a massive army of Tairens and foreigners. Rand told them they will be marching to Shayol Ghul. The sum of Tear's armies, nobles' armsmen, Defenders, and sell-swords should reach ninety thousand men, not including Darlin's new recruits. Cairhien An army comprising armsmen from many houses led by Semaradrid was in Illian in late . Some of the remainder of Cairhien's forces were sent to Arad Doman with Dobraine to restore order. At least five hundred of these were camped in Bandar Eban. Dobraine and his forces are now in Tear. Considering the devastation cause by the civil war, famine, Tear's occupation, and the Shaido's invasion, Cairhien might be able to field as many as twenty thousand soldiers. Illian Illian's army is composed of the Illianer Companions, who are the king's elite forces, along with nobles and the common army. The army has traditionally been led by the King, but Rand might place a new general over them in the future. The Companions are Illian's equivalent to the Defenders, but their loyalty is to the king. They wear a green and yellow uniform and are led by First Captain Demetre Marcolin. Lord Gregorin den Lushenos began increasing the numbers of his forces to face the Seanchan. Gregorin must have recalled the forces Rand scattered around Illian since the Tairen nobles and soldiers among those forces returned to Tear. Lord Gregorian will not be able to raise an army as large as Sammael's, but Illian should be able to raise an army of eighty thousand. Ghealdan Queen Alliandre Maritha Kigarin and her forces, almost a thousand lancers, have not yet arrived back in Ghealdan. Ghealdan itself was badly affected by the Prophet and his Dragonsworn and the condition of its armsmen is unknown. Andor The heart of Andor's army is the Queen's Guards, but Rahvin's creation of the White Lions and decimation of those loyal to Morgase greatly weakened this unit. However, many of the old Queen's Guard soldiers loyal to House Trakand and Andor are on their way to Caemlyn. Andor's current Captain-General is the legendary Hero of the Horn Birgitte Silverbow. Gawyn Trakand, First Prince of the Sword, currently serves as Egwene al'Vere's Warder. Matrim Cauthon and the Band of the Red Hand have Traveled there. The state of the Succession and the siege of Caemlyn triggered most Andoran houses into mobilizing their forces, thus leading to a highly militarized state. Therefore Elayne's success in claiming the throne has in effect unified most of Andor's strength, and the army is prepared for action. On a good day Andor could field up to one hundred and thirty to a hundred and fifty thousand men: Queen's Guard, mercenaries, noble's armsmen, and regular draftees, many of whom will be elderly or inexperienced and half-trained. Elayne Trakand said that if they gathered all of Andor's strength, not all of which are pledged to Elayne yet, they could nearly match the Borderlanders' numbers, some two hundred thousand, but two thirds of their forces would be under-trained. There are about one hundred and twenty five channelers helping Elayne, none of which are bound by the Three Oaths. Saldaean light cavalry Lord Davram t'Ghaline Bashere, one of the best generals in the land, leads eight thousand light cavalry from Saldaea. These men are all superb horsemen, armed with serpentine swords and light armor. Ta'veren armies Band of the Red Hand The Band is a military group that started after the battle for Cairhien, and is led by Mat Cauthon, who is arguably the best general there is. The Band's original members were from Cairhien and Tear, though they recruited soldiers from Andor, Altara, and Murandy. The Band is formed around standard military arrangements set by Mat, according to his memories. Currently they are in two sections. Seven thousand are with Mat in Caemlyn, where Mat aims to organize the building of Aludra's dragons and the development of a new crossbow crank that does not require lowering and raising the crossbow when loading. This group was comprised of three banners of horse and four thousand mounted crossbowmen. They had lost four hundred crossbowmen and five hundred cavalry before their last battle in Altara and recruited some Altarans who were fighting the Seanchan. The other section, led by Estean and Daerid, comprised of three banners of horse, five banners of foot, and the Mason’s Banner, is moving north out of Murandy and into Andor. Each banner of horse contains fifteen hundred men and each banner of infantry three thousand, placing the Band's overall size at over thirty thousand men. }} Goldeneyes Companions Perrin Aybara's army consists of three to four thousand Two Rivers bowmen, close to nine hundred Mayener Winged Guards, and close to a thousand Ghealdan Lancers. He has been gathering mercenaries and refugees to him due to his ta'veren influence. He also now commands the Children of the Light through the Lord Captain Commander, Galadedrid Damodred. Rand's personal forces Asha'man There must be over seven hundred Asha'man enrolled in the Black Tower by now. While some of the men are located in the Black Tower, south of Caemlyn, more than half of the men in the Black Tower were moved to Arad Doman and Illian, including all the Asha'man with bonded Aes Sedai and less than a dozen with Rand. One hundred of these Asha'man were assigned to Rodel Ituralde in Saldaea. Some of the Asha'man are loyal to Logain. Taim also has his own faction. The one hundred men who attend his private classes are certainly his, and are probably all Darkfriends. Some Soldiers and Dedicated would also feel loyal to the M'Hael, although Taim's harsh behavior is unlikely to make him very popular. A large portion of the Soldiers and Dedicated do not have any specific loyalty, and we could not assume that they would obey Rand over Taim, or the reverse. Legion of the Dragon The Legion consists of men who wish to follow the Dragon Reborn. They are based on Mat's ideas, and each man is armed with a steel-armed crossbow and a short-sword. They wear blue coats with the dragon on the breast and wear their breastplate under the coat. They were camped twenty miles west of Caemlyn; it is uncertain if they have moved from there or not. A few months have passed since recruiting for the Legion started, and their method has been very successful. At the end of A Crown of Swords, we saw fifteen thousand Legion-men armed and trained, and this was in the first month only. The Legion is still inexperienced, but they seem very well trained. Their current number should be over seventy thousand soldiers, though many would be new and need weeks of training. Atha'an Miere Most of the Sea Folk are gathered in Tear and Illian, including those who escaped Ebou Dar because of Mat, and the twelve Wavemistresses gathered to name Zaida as the new Mistress of the Ships. We don't have any numerical estimates, but they are using some Seanchan ships to make up for their losses. The Sea Folk made a Bargain with Rand, whom they formally acknowledge as their Coramoor. Rand finally called upon this Bargain. Almost all of the Sea Folk's larger ships have been sailing from Tear and Illian to Bandar Eban to take supplies for the populace and Rand's armies there, and have been harassed by Seanchan ships along the way. The consequence of many Windfinders being taken in Ebou Dar is that many of them are now trained for battle. Knowledge gained from Aes Sedai, such as linking and Traveling, will also be invaluable to them. Category:Military